Eric Williams (Earth-616)
, (leader); ally of Space Phantom, Ultron, Nekra, Black Talon, Goliath (Erik Josten), Man-Ape; member of the Maggia, Former member of the ; | Relatives = Sanford (father, deceased), Martha (mother), Wonder Man (Simon Williams) (brother), Vision ("brother"), Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) (estranged "sister-in-law") | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = Mobile | Gender = Male | Height = 6' 4" | Weight = 225 lbs (102 kg) | Eyes = Blue | Hair = Grey | Hair2 = (formerly blond) | UnusualFeatures = Prosthetic scythe in place of a right hand | CharRef = | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Professional criminal | Education = | Origin = | PlaceOfBirth = Paterson, New Jersey | PlaceOfDeath = A cave in the western United States | Creators = Roy Thomas; John Buscema | First = Avengers #52 | HistoryText = Early Years Eric Williams, the brother of Simon Williams (also known as Wonder Man), was born in Paterson, New Jersey. Eric was always the black sheep of his family. His mother would tell him that he was 'born bad', while heaping affection on Simon. Eric's father was charged with disciplining him, but was abusive and uncaring. He even preferred to watch TV lazily, while Eric was torturing the family cat. At the same time, their mother Martha was loving and attentive to Simon, making Eric bitter and jealous. One day Eric was playing with chemicals in the garage, and caused a fire which burned down their house. Simon felt guilty for having not stopped Eric, and resolved to be responsible for Eric from there on. As they grew older, Simon grew studious while Eric was an athlete. Eric also became more rebellious, and tried to get Simon to join him in his petty thefts. Eventually Eric joined the Maggia and moved to Las Vegas. Meanwhile Simon took over the family business, Williams Innovations. Partly due to competition with Stark Industries, Williams Innovations began to fail. Desperate, Simon turned to Eric and his mob ties for help. Simon embezzled money from the company to invest with Eric, but Simon was caught and jailed. Simon was freed from jail by Baron Zemo, induced by an offer of revenge on Tony Stark by defeating Iron Man and the Avengers. Simon was transformed into Wonder Man, in order to infiltrate the Avengers. Zemo's empowering process also poisoned Simon, ensuring his loyalty in exchange for the antidote. Simon's better nature won out though, and he died saving the Avengers from Zemo's trap. Learning of Simon's death, Eric was inflamed with guilt and anger. Through his Maggia contacts, he contacted the Tinkerer who provided him with his scythe weapon, which was further enhanced by Ultron with coma-inducing abilities. Taking the name "Grim Reaper," he defeated the Avengers but was beaten by the surprise appearance of the Black Panther. Later, the Grim Reaper confronted the Avengers with his Lethal Legion comprised of the Living Laser, Power Man, the Man-Ape and the Swordsman. The Legion was defeated when the Grim Reaper found himself unable to strike down the Vision, having discovered that he possessed Simon's brain-wave patterns. Civil War The Grim Reaper was apparently one of the many villains who escaped from the Raft prisonNew Avengers #1-3. After being at large for several months, the Grim Reaper was eventually tracked down by Captain America and Cable, who together with their other friends brought the Reaper down. He was placed back into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. Grim Reaper was next seen teamed with Man-Ape & Saboteur; how he escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. is uncertain. Dark Reign The Grim Reaper later formed a new lineup of the Lethal Legion as part of a plan against Norman Osborn, after Osborn's rise to power. The team is ultimately defeated by the Dark Avengers and H.A.M.M.E.R. agents and imprisoned in The Raft. While there, the Grim Reaper is stabbed in the heart by an inmate loyal to Osborn, and has to undergo an operation. It is also revealed that his brother Simon is a member of the Legion, also imprisoned in the Raft. It was then revealed that Grim Reaper had formed the Legion so Osborn could be seen as a hero for taking them down, as well as have Wonder Man look bad and make him and his Avengers look better to the originals. With his death faked he then left for Europe to set up a new power base for Osborn. Chaos War When the mad god Amatsu-Mikaboshi declared war on the pantheons of all worlds, he instigated the Chaos War by rallying an army of alien deities and destroyed the realms of the dead, flooding souls into the world of the living. Williams was chosen as one of his servants, who, along with Nekra, were charged with killing the Avengers. In order to defend them, Vision, whose soul was returned to Earth along with other fallen heroes, detonated himself, killing Williams in the process. Uncanny Avengers Eric attempted to kill the Scarlet Witch but Rogue absorbed his powers and punched him, apparently killing him, although claiming she barely hit him. Horseman of Death Grim Reaper was brought back to life by the Apocalypse Twins, using both the Life Seed and Death Seed, in order to serve, alongside Banshee, Sentry and Daken, as one of their Horsemen of Death. | Powers = Originally, the Grim Reaper was a purely technological-based villain with no innate super-human abilities. The techno-scythe he used as his trademark weapon had the ability to make the blade spin at rapid speed, making the weapon usable as a buzz-saw, missile shield, and an improvised helicopter. It could also fire energy blasts and gas pellets, and dispense electric stun shocks on touch. The Grim Reaper later gained some magic-related abilities: he can re-animate the souls and bodies of the dead, either through voodoo training received from Black Talon or powers bestowed upon him by Lloigoroth. The Grim Reaper has also performed various magically-based feats including but not limited to: teleporting himself and others, summoning demons, creating illusions & clairvoyant viewing. | Abilities = | Strength = The Reaper's physical strength is supernaturally heightened slightly beyond the natural limitations of the human body. | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = Jet-Equipped Platform | Weapons = Grim Reaper's Scythe. His right hand has been amputated and replaced with an apparently magical scythe. The scythe is magically sharp and is capable of energy blasts (much like the original), but has also been used to drain energy. | Notes = | Trivia = | Marvel = | Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_Reaper_%28comics%29 | Links = * http://www.leaderslair.com/marvelvillains/reaper.html }} Category:Clairvoyance Category:Necromancy Category:Illusionists Category:Teleporters Category:One Hand Category:Avengers Villains Eric Williams (Earth-616)